


Afterthought

by maxbegone



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: And Joel is just trying to make her smile, Ellie is still adjusting to what happened, Family, Father-Daughter Relationship, Post-Canon, Post-Game(s), Shock, honestly I'm just trying to figure out what else to put here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-19 23:38:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14883435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maxbegone/pseuds/maxbegone
Summary: When they arrive back at Tommy’s, the sun is just starting to set over the horizon. Joel gave his brother a gracious clap on the back as he sat to eat with Ellie and Maria, but Tommy stopped him.“How’d it all go?”Joel shook his head. “Later.”or, Joel tells Tommy everything and tries his best to make Ellie smile.





	Afterthought

**Author's Note:**

> After months of being unable to churn something out, a replay of The Last of Us brought this little thing to life. I hope you enjoy.

When they arrive back at Tommy’s, the sun is just starting to set over the horizon. Joel gave his brother a gracious clap on the back as he sat to eat with Ellie and Maria, but Tommy stopped him. 

“How’d it all go?”

Joel shook his head. “Later.”

Dinner was quiet and a little uncomfortable, Ellie only picked at her food before excusing herself to a vacant bedroom. When Maria left to do her rounds, Joel told his brother everything. 

About arriving at UEC only to find the Fireflies had moved to St. Mary’s in Salt Lake City. About the bandits that ambushed them who later turned out to be part of a larger and more threatening group. Joel told him about the fall of the balcony while trying to fight one of the bastards off, only to land on the broken metal spike that pierced through his back and into his lower belly. He showed off the gnarly scar - jagged and very raised, but healed. 

“And not even an inch of infection?” Tommy asked in disbelief.

“None.” Joel relaxed back into the creaky wooden chair. “Ellie did a helluva good job stitchin’ me up, gettin’ the medicine. That girl refused to let me die and I owe her everything. She’s tough, little brother. And she’s been through a lot.”

“Then what the hell happened? She barely said a word, and the minute Maria mentioned the Fireflies she completely shut down.” 

Joel sighed heavily. The weight that ached in his chest sat in a way that made him sick. After everything the two of them had been through, it would take a while for Ellie to heal. And Joel had to admit, it would take some time for him to heal as well. 

Surviving, that’s one thing in the moment, but what about after that? 

“Marlene — she said that they’d be able to create a vaccine because of some…mutation she has.” 

“-Yeah-“ 

And then he fell silent, hoping Tommy would piece together the rest of the story. Joel didn’t want to live through it again.

“So they-“

“Tommy, they were going to kill her.” Joel’s tone was cold and sharp. “They were going to remove whatever the hell it was, and fucking let her die. I couldn’t — I couldn’t do that again.” 

His brother gave him the faintest of smiles. “You love that girl.” 

“I need to protect her. I need to do for Ellie what I couldn’t do for-“ 

His throat, Joel swore, completely closed for a minute there. 

“I’m gonna go check on her,” he said, and headed upstairs. 

—

Joel found Ellie sitting on the bed cross-legged. She was staring straight out the window, and didn’t react when Joel walked in or when he sat down next to her. 

“Why don’t you get some rest? It’s been a while since you’ve slept in a real bed, right?” 

Ellie hummed. At least Joel knew she was listening. 

“Listen…I know you don’t want to talk about it, but I have to say this. I wasn’t going to let anything happen to you. They’d have to get through me first, and I wasn’t goin’ down without a long hard fight.” 

She didn’t react, she didn’t turn to face him, so Joel continued. 

“You deserve to fight. And besides…I promised to teach you how to swim. I don’t back down on my word.” 

“Yeah.” Ellie broke a little from her vacant stare. That was progress.

The room fell silent again. Out of the corner of his eye, Joel saw a copy of _Savage Starlight_ sitting on the side table. He took it and examined the electric colors that decorated the cover and the characters themselves. Although it had probably been through years of weathering and who knows what else, it held up pretty well. 

“I guess I’m gonna have to read this,” Joel mused. “You seem to love it, and at this point I think we’ve managed to find a good chunk of the collection.” 

That made Ellie finally turn towards him.

“You should,” she said with a hint of a smile. “It’s really good.” 

Joel gave her a long hug, then scooped up her bag and tossed it on the floor. 

“Right. Get some sleep. You deserve it. I’ll be downstairs if you need me.” 

He stood and made his way out of the room.

“Hey, Joel?”

He turned, and Ellie was staring at him, eyes wide and shiny and honest.

“Thanks.” 

Joel smiled, though not as bright and wide, it was full of love and truth.

“You’re welcome, babygirl." 

 

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi to me on maxbegone.tumblr.com!


End file.
